CHINDESAURUS

Chindesaurus bryansmalli

The skulless partial skeleton of Chindesaurus was discovered at the Navajo Indian-named Chiindii (evil spirit) Point in Arizona's Petrified Forest National Park in 1984, but despite a strictly meat diet and scary connotations it probably wasn't as evil as it sounds.

The type specimen, affectionately known as Gertie, was initially thought to be a sauropod and, at just over two meters long, it was something of a midget in theropod terms. Still, it was plenty big enough to terrorize small defenceless Triassic mammals and probably found itself on the menu of Saurosuchus in return. The mammals may then have eaten the latter's poop. It's called the circle of death.

A partial hip discovered in the Tecovas Formation of Crosby County was originally assigned to Chindesaurus (Long & Murry, 1995) and travelled all around the small primitive predator family tree before becoming Caseosaurus crosbyensis (Hunt et al. 1998) based upon supposed unique features. Rumour has it they have a cheek making such a claim bearing in mind these "unique features" are present on a part of Caseosaurus that has yet to be discovered for Chindesaurus, and some experts believe a full-on synonymy is on the cards... if comparable fossils ever turn up.

(Bryan Small's Chinde lizard)Etymology

Chindesaurus is derived from the Navajo "Chiindii" ("evil spirit" or "ghost") which was anglicized into "Chinde", plus "sauros" which means "lizard" in Greek.
The species epithet, bryansmalli, honors Bryan Small, who made the discovery.

Discovery

The fossils of the Chinde lizard were recovered from the Chinle formation (yes, Chinle not Chinde) in the Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona, U.S.A. in 1984.
The holotype (PEFO 10395) includes all kinds of vertebrae, a partial left femur and right tibia, a complete right femur, the right ankle, bits of hip and ribs.

Estimations

Timeline:

Era: Mesozoic Period: Late TriassicStage: CarnianAge: 237-228 million years ago